A new Swiss company called Innolith has entered the battery storage market with the aim of supporting renewables integration and stabilising electricity grids.
The Basel-based outfit uses an inorganic electrolyte that it said delivers greater durability and safer batteries than ones based on lithium-ion technology.
It added that the battery when used with the company’s GridBank system will have a life of over 60 gigawatt-hours over the 50,000 cycle lifetime.
Innolith’s battery was developed by a team of 60 chemists at the company’s research and development centre in Bruchsal, Germany, and a prototype has already been deployed in the US.
Production is expected to start with line tests in 2019 and volume production in 2020.
Innolith said manufacturing and production line automation will be undertaken by specialist partners selected by the company.
Innolith board chairman Alan Greenshields said: “What the world needs is a safe battery that can operate over tens of thousands of cycles and still deliver the power needed. Innolith has created such a battery, which has been tested by third party labs and proven commercially in a demanding application.
“Battery manufacture is a mature industry and so cell assembly should be carried out by manufacturing experts who can bring their skills and experience to bear to deliver high quality and low costs.
“Innolith will work with industry leaders to achieve this while focusing its core R&D, product design and specialty chemical skills.”